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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 661 



development that has marked the past five 

 years. In agriculture, in all industries and 

 manufactures, in mining, in exports and 

 we may say in all those things which we 

 believe conduce to a country's prosperity, 

 we are to-day in an enviable condition. 

 Nor have we as yet reached the high-water 

 mark. We believe that we have only en- 

 tered upon an era of "good times." The 

 prospects for the future are bright and the 

 signs of the times indicate that for some 

 years there will be a steady advance — an 

 ever-increasing development of the many 

 great natural resources we possess. In all 

 this I know you will rejoice with us. 



And having said this, the question will 

 naturally arise in your minds : What is the 

 secret, the reason for this phenomenal de- 

 velopment? My answer is that it is due, 

 chiefly, to a better, more thorough realiza- 

 tion by ourselves and those of other coun- 

 tries, of the great agricultural possibilities 

 of this Dominion. We have in our north- 

 western provinces alone unmeasured, al- 

 most illimitable, areas of the most fertile 

 soil, yet awaiting the plough— soil rich and 

 deep, a veritable mine of plant food, chem- 

 ically and physically perfect and specially 

 adapted, so far as we can judge under the 

 climatic conditions that prevail, for the 

 production of the finest quality of the most 

 important, the most valuable of all food- 

 stuffs—wheat. While we recognize the 

 value of all her other natural resources, 

 Canada is, and will probably always re- 

 main, essentially an agricultural— a food- 

 producing— country, capable, as the years 

 go by,, of sustaining an immense population 

 and giving a large surplus of food-stuffs 

 for export. 



It is not my purpose to make this address 

 a statistical record, but in order to give you 

 proof that I have not spoken in exaggerated 

 terms regarding this truly astounding de- 

 velopment I must give you a few figures 

 kindly furnished to me by the Dominion 



Census Office. They refer to the north- 

 western provinces, Manitoba, Saskatchewan 

 and Alberta. 



These data need little comment. They 

 furnish evidence of the most satisfactory 

 character respecting our growth as a whole 

 and of the rapid extension of agriculture 

 in the Northwest, particularly. May I 

 quote in this connection the concluding sen- 

 tence of the Report of the Select Committee 

 on Agriculture and Colonization of the 

 House of Commons, 1906-7 ? 



A careful survey of the entire field demonstrates 

 that agriculture, tlie cornerstone of national 

 wealth and power, is in a more prosperous condi- 

 tion at present in Canada than in any other coun- 

 try of the world, while the yet unmeasured terri- 

 tory of rich virgin lands awaits settlement ready 

 to respond bounteously to the industry and intelli- 

 gence of many millions of willing hands. In a 

 word, Canada is the world's greatest bread field 

 of the day. 



If time permitted I should have liked to 

 tell you something of the agriculture, the 

 various soils and climatic conditions char- 

 acterizing the different provinces as we 

 travel across the Dominion from the At- 

 lantic to the Pacific. There would be much 

 of interest to the agricultural chemist in 

 such a study. But such a recount, even in 

 the briefest form, is now impossible. Every 

 province has its own advantages, but it also 

 has its own peculiar problems to solve. No 

 doubt you already know something of the 

 farming conditions in eastern Canada, 

 which was first to be settled ; of the Garden 

 of the Gulf, Prince Edward Island, that 

 has recently been brought to realize the 



-Population on April 1, 1901. 

 ' Population on June 24, 1906. 



